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La Vizcaina 'La Del Vivo' Godello Raul, Perez, Bierzo, Spain 2022
La Vizcaina 'La Del Vivo' Godello Raul, Perez, Bierzo, Spain 2022
Cool, classy and sophisticated, but enough about me, let’s talk about the wine. I really like the way this delivers a hatful of fruit in a very controlled, linear, focused way. The Godello ripened perfectly in 2022, thanks to the warm vintage in Bierzo, which allowed Raul Perez to channel all its energy and flavour without the need for the cosmetic effects of new oak, so you have a wine that is concentrated, saline, mineral and age-worthy. A quirky, Atlantic Chablis if you will. You won’t? Fair enough. 13.5% alc. Organically farmed. Drink now-2029.
Press review:
Tim Atkin MW: "Textured and nuanced, La del Vivo is a Godello with serious personality. Delicate chamomile and honey aromas lead to ripe apricot and peach syrup with a little bitter almond and a touch of white pepper. It takes time to open up but then reveals a fantastically chalky palate and just a little woody spice from 12 months in large oak vats. Should continue to develop further over the coming years. Drink now-2028." 95 points
The Wine Advocate: “The white 2022 La Vizcaína La del Vivo comes from vines they own, all fermented without temperature control and never racked. It has a serious and austere nose that makes me think of a cooler year. There is good ripeness, and the wine achieved 13.5% alcohol but has very good freshness and acidity. It has notes of white flowers, fruit, spices and herbs and is complex, nuanced and elegant. It has a chalky palate with very fresh and clean flavors. Drink 2022-2032.” 95 points
JancisRobinson.com (previous vintage): “Freshness and predominantly water pear. Very pleasant and consistent style. Lightness, salinity, and all very well placed. It is a wine of finesse that seeks a more mineral expression of Godello, less opulent, playing with softness and delicacy. Great work. Drink now-2028.” 17 points
Customer comments:
“On first opening it may not smack you in the face, but freshness, zip and zing are apparent straight away and different characteristics emerge with each glass. Salinity? Tick. Minerality? Tick. A citrus streak? Tick. Fine mouthfeel? Tick. The structure to age? Tick.” - Mr T.M.
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“Saint Jacques is by far the most important wine I make.”- Raúl Pérez.
An astonishing value Mencia from one of Spain’s most important (and hairy) winemakers, Raúl Pérez. It pours a bright, glossy, crimson colour and the appearance seems to translate into flavour, as the palate evokes shiny purple- and blue-skinned fruits (damsons, blueberries, blackcurrants) with succulent acids, black pepper and a hint of cherry blossom. There’s a seamless feel to the polished fruit and you can really taste the quality of the harvest, which is clearly the winemaker’s intention, as there is no oak flavour. It’s vibrant and beautifully supple with fine-grained tannins and a hint of cool graphite, which elevates the fruit. Raul makes some stunning ‘single vineyard’ expressions of Mencia, which have a bit more structure than this blend from old vineyards on different soils, but if you want to get beneath the skin of a grape, a winemaker and a region, then this is your backstage pass. 13% alc. Drink now-2030.
Organic farming
Press review:
The Wine Advocate: “The 2023 Ultreia Saint Jacques has a lifted nose. In the rainy 2023, they selected from the many plots in different lieux-dits of Valtuille, which this year included El Val and El Cepón in Villafranca, mostly from very old vines, with 50% of the grapes purchased from growers. It fermented mostly with full clusters and had a long maceration and matured in used barrels. It has contained ripeness and less than 13% alcohol. All the 2023 reds from the Ultreia range are very clean. Drink now-2030.” 93+ points
Jancis Robinson MW (previous vintage): “Thoroughly satisfying, complex, lifted perfume that already shows some integration even if quite a hit of acidity and a little tannin on the palate. It doesn't have the sweet majesty of Bierzo reds costing many times as much but is clearly an artisanal product from the heavily bearded Pérez. Refreshing and only medium body in terms of impact on the palate. Very Good Value.” 17 points
Customer comments:
“This is an amazing wine.” - Mr. P.D.
”Another case of the Raul Perez Saint Jacques Ultreia if available; it’s brilliant!” - Mr. A.R.
”A hit! Muy, muy bien. Should have had a whole case. Please may I have another 6? - Ms. V. J.
“By the way, the Raul Perez, Ultreia St Jacques was absolutely brilliant for the money.” - Mr M.B.
“Love that Ultreia. I will do another 12!” - Mr. P.N.
”Outstanding!!” - Mr. P. J.
“Very much enjoyed the first bottle last night. Lovely fruit and balance. Slipped down very - too! easily!” - Mr J.G.
”Drank a bottle of the Ultreia St Jacques on weekend. Lovely!” - Mr. D.A.
”This is a damn good wine.” - Mr. D.A.
“I should say I have really enjoyed the Ultreia St Jacques - quite delicious!” - Mr S.C.
”Delicious and superb value.” - Mr. A.T.
Safety belts should be compulsory when drinking this wine. In fact, any Anjou Blanc Sec that’s worth its salt should propel you forwards and push your eyes back into your head. It’s a wine for thrill-seekers who don’t wince when they encounter the G-force of northern European acidity. Cutting-edge winemaker, Thibaud Boudignon, has fashioned a beauty from the 2023 harvest in the Loire. Pale straw in colour and displaying aromas and flavours of apple granita, lime pith, grapefruit, chalk dust and just a hint of honeycomb or wax or pollen or something of interest to bees. The palate has laser-like precision and focus and will only become more and more interesting as it unclenches over the next decade. 12.5% alc. Organic & biodynamic. Drink now-2034.
Press review:
Vinous (previous vintage): “A pure, clean wine with delectable purity. There are delicate flavours of just-ripe pineapple, citrus, nettles, and a subtle hint of vanilla. It is fermented and aged in both 500 litre barrels and oval Stockinger ‘cigars’. A line of acidity pulls the wine through to a refined conclusion. It can be approached now for its refined fruit, but will go on.” 91 points
The Wine Advocate (previous vintage): “The 2022 Anjou Blanc from Thibaud Boudignon reveals a perfumed, exotic bouquet with aromas of green mango, pineapple, pear and spices intertwined with a touch of toast. More depth and fleshier than the 2021, it’s medium-bodied, perfectly balanced with a seamless, layered texture and a delicately bitter finish.” 93 points
“Enric Soler is a specialist in Xarello, possibly the finest producer of this grape in the world!” - The Wine Advocate
“One of Catalunyas best white wines.” - Tim Atkin MW, 97 points
“This is stunning.” - The WIne Advocate, 96 points
We’re extremely proud to represent Enric Soler’s wines in the UK, one of the most revered winemakers in Catalonia. We could list his various achievements (Spain’s champion sommelier, founder of the Barcelona Wine Academy, leading exponent of biodynamic viticulture in Penedes), but the best illustration of the high esteem in which he is held came when we were talking to a young Catalan winemaker and we told him that we were Enric’s importer and he told us that he idolised him so much that he had named his dog after him. No higher praise needed.
This is Enric Soler’s ‘grand cru’, sourced from a tiny 0.7 hectare vineyard composed of Xarello vines planted in 1945. There’s a latent richness, but without any impression of excess fat, showing immaculate clarity of fruit, tantalising acidity, concentration and length. Imagine a flinty Grand Cru Chablis that spends its summer holidays by the Med and that goes some way towards conveying the spirit of this glorious wine with its flavours of wispy minerals, grapefruit, white flowers, pumpkin and a marine salinity that emerges on the finish. 100% organic/biodynamic farming. Only 7 barrels produced (2,935 bottles). 8 months in 300-litre Burgundy barrels (25% new) without batonnage (so as “not to make the wine dizzy", says Enric). 13% alc. Drink now-2032.
If you buy six it comes in a wooden case (NB I’m afraid we can only offer the 6-bottle wooden case for London delivery, as it’s too fragile to survive the rigours of the courier system. For deliveries outside London, we would need to repack it into ‘mailsafe’ cardboard boxes).
Organic/ biodynamic
Press reviews:
Tim Atkin MW: “Broader on the shoulder than Espenyalluchs; waxier and riper in style. Ripe orchard fruits, white peach, toasted hazelnuts and lemon peel on the nose. Driven, persistent and effortlessly long; the sort of wine that just oozes class. One of Catalunyas best white wines. Drink now-2040.” 97 points
The Wine Advocate: “The iconic 2023 Nun Vinya Dels Taus is a single-vineyard Xarel.lo from the first plot they started working, which took 20 years to recover, recovering the soils, working organically and biodynamically with the plants and animals in the vineyard and lowering the yield per plant in a plot that was used to produce base wine for sparkling wine. It's only 0.67 hectares, planted in 1945. After the soft pressing of the whole bunches, the must fermented with indigenous yeasts in 300-litre barrels, 20% of them new. It matured for nine months in new, second and third-use barrels from selected barrel makers in Burgundy with lees without being racked or doing bâtonnage. This is stunning. It displays a bright yellow colour, almost fluorescent and with some green tints. The nose is kaleidoscopic, detailed and nuanced but very subtle and elegant, clean and precise. The palate is even more precise and fresh, like laser cut, vibrant and pungent, long, tasty and dry, with a chalky finish. Drink now-2035.” 96 points
Customer reviews:
“Even though 2023 was another hot and dry year in the region, the wine does not show this, but is remarkably subtle and elegant. It has the typical richness, complexity, and harmony that Nun always has, but I think feels more graceful and elegant in the 2023, also with a bit more freshness than in some previous vintages, and definitely it is one of the best vintages of this wine. The characteristic flavours of the Xarel·lo grape are there as part of a complex spectrum, all with great purity and the harmony of the wines of Enric Soler. It is excellent to drink now and will last for many years in the cellar.” - from Professor C.K., a Vin Cognito customer, who visited the winery in March 2025
“I recently had the pleasure of opening the bottle of Nun Vinya dels Taus I purchased last year and was absolutely blown away - it was truly exceptional” - Mr. A. B.
“First one opened and hugely impressed. A bit of Burgundy meets Sadie Family Chenin.” - Mr I.M.